Brian - I downloaded and installed ClassicShell on my VM Windows 8 installation and it was quite fast and easy to install. I won't be able to get much practical use out of it though. I just have a release-preview of Windows 8 and it reboots every hour (intentionally) or so to remind me that it's not the production version and the preview license has expired.
I still fully expect a service pack that adds native capability to switch to a more complete version of the traditional desktop, but barring that, this piece of software makes me relax a bit more about Win8.
Based on the limited time I spent with it, I'd be much more likely to try out Windows 8 for real. I'd have to do it on a secondary computer though for fear of compatibility issues with all of my various IDEs.

Brian - The Classicshell was a good find. I have Win8 installed on a VM and I'm going to try that to see how much it changes my opinion of the OS. Realistically, I don't have a problem with Windows 8 except for the fact that the new UI can't really be switched off. It's only one thing, but it's pretty much a show-stopper for me.
I have found that just about everything that the Windows 7 and Windows XP UIs do can be found someplace inside of Win8, but for the most part, those things are difficult to find and poorly implemented. The way the "desktop" is supported on Win8 looks like little more than a poorly thought out, partially implemented midnight hack.
Going all the way back to Windows 95, Microsoft has given new OS users the ability to mimic the UI of the prior version with a single, very simple setting. Had they done that, I would probably have Windows 8 on my home machine already.
If Classicshell works out (or if MS issues a service pack with similar functionality), my upgrade decision will be no different than it's been with any other version of Windows: just make sure my software is compatible, then go for it.

I hope you don't think I work for M$ - I most certainly do not. I have also documented some of the problems I had after this point in other blogs and continue to be somewhat cautious about Win 8. I have had to reload everything three times now, although one time was not M$ fault, but a bad memory stick that made software cause havoc.
You are right - I chose the classic shell based on reviews of other that described it as an interface tuned for users of content rather than for creators of content. I will probably try the3 new interface at times, but did not want to spend the time immediately having the learn a new interface.

"Looks like he put the classic shell in without even exploring the possibility that the new shell has advantages justifying the change"
In my case I simply DO NOT WANT a Metro style interface!!! and as you are working for M$ please take the message to whomever needs to know, thank you.
I'm getting continually harassed by M$ to upgrade my new laptop to Win8 as I agreed to the cheap upgrade offer BEFORE I saw the mess win 8 is, did I say I simply DO NOT WANT?
Simply "update" to win7???? I have to buy new software worth many thousands of dollars according to the win7 adviser as it will no longer work. Will my 4 RS232 ports, 2 of which are on a card with a parallel port, still work?
I use them daily and working with USB dongles is a nightmare.
And finally I will have to throw away 2 perfectly working desktop PCs and one laptop so that M$ can keep on giving me stuff I simply DO NOT WANT or need.
Thanks for the opporunity of being able to post this here.

Yes, but that's end-of-life, as in Microsoft not providing updates any longer. But if you go out and buy a new computer? Perhaps for some time you can order the new one with Win7 installed. Dell seems to be selling at least some of new ones with Win8 exlusively.
I've never had any trouble moving up through the Windows generations, starting with WFWG, Win95, Win98, etc. That was one of the nice features. Would be nice if that approach weren't totally abandoned.

Lets say I am not sure exactly. I did have to install different hardware to get the screen back and then deleted the drivers for the other board. I then did a fresh download from the nVidia site and second time around everything worked.

Here are the end-of-life dates for previous recent Windows OS:
Windows XP 4/8/2014
Windows Vista 4/11/2017
Windows 7 1/14/2020
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/20/microsoft-nails-down-windows-end-of-life-dates/
Gartner recommends that XP users upgrade to W7 first, and leave W8 for later ...
http://rcpmag.com/articles/2012/09/27/gartner-warns-against-skipping-windows-7.aspx
From a personal EDA viewpoint, engineers have stayed with XP through the Vista years and there is a lot of inertia in upgrading to W7. Usually that involves a) a needed computer upgrade and b) no absolutely XP-dependent tool requiring the wiping of W7 in the delivered box to reload with the included XP discs.

Windows 7 won't be around forever, so it's good to know that Windows 8 can be made to work efficiently also for non-touch-screen applications.
What I had predicted, at the outset, after reading all the complaints about the Metro UI, was that Win8 SP1 would incorporate something along the lines of "classic shell." If it does, then I guess there shouldn't be too much to complain about.
Brian, what did you have to do to your video drivers? That's the kind of problem that really hurt Vista. Driver problems, even with drivers that were theoretically supposed to work.

Brian, Thanks for the review of your Win8 install. I too am avoiding it for now. But your experience and suggestion to use the “Classic Shell” from sourceforge indicates that there is a viable upgrade path for me.
Personally I am tired of relearning how to use each new iteration of the Win OS. Especially since I can remember MS promise that the original GUI would "Standardize" the interface so we wouldn't have to re-learn it with each upgrade (another false promise from MS).